The long history of now-commonplace technologies like monoclonal antibodies serves as a crucial reminder for the biotech industry. What appears to be an overnight success is often the culmination of decades of hard, incremental scientific work, highlighting the necessity of patience and long-term perspective.
In a market favoring asset-centric biotech, Springtide VC remains focused on platform companies. This countercyclical strategy mitigates the binary risk of single-asset failure and allows for multiple "shots on goal" and diverse business models, such as partnerships or becoming a drug developer.
Truly transformative healthcare companies often solve "boring" but fundamental problems. Instead of tackling surface-level symptoms (e.g., appointment booking), the best founders dig deep to fix the complex, underlying infrastructure issues of the healthcare system, creating a durable competitive moat.
VC Claire Smith defines "Tech Bio" as a "tech-first" approach, where a novel hardware or software platform is the core innovation, which is then applied to solve biological problems. This contrasts with traditional biotech, which starts with a biological insight (like a target) and then uses a toolbox of existing technologies.
In a VC pitch, honestly admitting a knowledge gap can build more trust than attempting to bluff. It shows self-awareness and integrity, signaling to the investor that you'll be transparent when challenges arise. This candor is crucial for building the long-term founder-investor relationship.
Before leaving academia, aspiring founders should have honest, non-fundraising conversations with potential investors. This "test drive" provides candid feedback on the idea's fundability, business structure, and necessary milestones, preventing them from launching a company that is misaligned with market expectations.
Claire Smith envisions a new biotech business model focused on aggregating vast, unstructured health data (genomic, clinical notes) to sell high-value insights to pharma. This "Palantir-style" approach turns data into a scalable product for target identification or patient stratification, avoiding the traditional drug development path.
Early-stage founders should reframe their pitching goal. The first conversation is not about securing investment but about being compelling and clear enough to make the VC want a follow-up. This mindset shifts the focus from an exhaustive data dump to telling a concise, memorable story that sparks interest.
During capital-constrained periods, founders must be ruthless in their focus. Every dollar and hour should go towards "killer experiments"—those that directly accrue value and hit the specific milestones required for the next fundraising round. "Cool science" that doesn't advance these goals is a luxury companies can't afford.
A cultural divide exists in biotech investing. East Coast VCs, rooted in a traditional biotech ecosystem, are more skeptical of AI and demand hard biological data. West Coast VCs, surrounded by tech innovation, are more comfortable backing the promise of AI platforms before seeing extensive wet lab validation.